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TEXT TO NUMBER ONE 05' 

PRANG'S WAR PICTURES, 



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SHERIDAN'S FINAL CHARGE 



AT WINCHESTER/'^ mmmmm 



SEPTEMBER 19, 1864. 



BOSTON: 
L. PRANG & CO. 



SHERIDAN'S 

FiNAi, charge; at winch^stkr. 



jN the 19th of September, 1864, on the line of 
the Opequan Creek, near Winchester, Va., in the 
Shenandoah Valley, this fight between the Union forces 
under General Philip H. Sheridan and the Confed- 
erates under General Jubal Early took place. 

It resulted in the total defeat of Early, and was 
the first of a series of important contests between the 
same commanders for the control of the valley, which 
terminated in its ultimate evacuation by the Southern 
army. 

A peculiarity of this engagement was the boldness 
and versatility with which the Union cavalry were han- 
dled. In no other battle of the war was the field 
better adapted for the operations of cavalry, on foot 
or mounted, and in none other was there more use 
of the sabre made than on this occasion. 



" 3^t> :,- 



.33 



Sheridan's Final Charge at Winchester. 



Sheridan's mounted force numbered about six 
thousand men under General Torbert, and was dis- 
tributed in three divisions, under Generals Merritt, 
Wilson, and Averill respectively. 

In Merritt's First Division there were three bri- 
gades, and it is an incident in the service of one of 
these — known as the Cavalry Reserve Brigade (also 
as the "Regular" Brigade) — that is the subject of 
the picture. The Regular Brigade was commanded 
by Colonel Charles R. Lowell (a nephew of the late 
Minister to England), who was killed at the head of 
his command October i8, 1864. It consisted of the 
First, Second, and Fifth United States regiments of 
cavalry. Second Massachusetts and First New York 
Dragoons. 

General Sheridan's line was fbrmed with his in- 
fantry (parts of the Sixth, Eighth, 'and Nineteenth 
Corps) in the centre, Wilson's cavalry division on 
the left, while Merritt and Averill on the right wheeled 
gradually to the left and south, pivoting on the in- 
fantry, and seeking to envelop the enemy's left and 
rear. 

The moment chosen by the artist was when the 



jSheridans Final Charge at Winchester. 



Union cavalry had nearly accomplished the last- 
named purpose, near the close of the day and of 
the battle, which lasted from 2 a. m. until 6 p. m. 

The final and decisive movement of the cavalry, 
of which the charge of the Regular Brigade was 
part, Is thus referred to In the official reports. 

General Sheridan says : '' I returned to the right 
where the enemy was still fighting, with obstinacy, 
in the open ground in front of Winchester, and 
ordered Torbert to collect his cavalry and charge." 

General Early states : '' The enemy's cavalry again 
charged around my left flank, and the men began to 
give way again." 

General Merritt reports : *' Soon Colonel Lowell 
(Reserve Biigade) entered the lists. His heroic 
brigade — now reduced to about six hundred men — 
rode out fearlessly within five hundred yards of the 
enemy's line of battle, on the left of which, resting 
on an old earthwork, was a two-gun battery. The 
order was given to charge the line and get the 



guns. 



Lieutenant Harrison, of the Second United States 
Cavalry, which was the leading regiment in Lowell's 



jSheridans Final Charge at Winchester. 



column In the charge referred to, writes as follows : ^ 
*' It was well toward four o'clock, and though the 
sun was warm the air was cool and bracing. The 
ground to our front was open and level, in some 
places, as a well-cut lawn. Not an obstacle inter- 
vened between us and the enemy's line, which was 
distinctly seen nervously awaiting our attack. The 
brigade was in column of squadrons, the Second 
United States Cavalry in front. At the sound of 
the bugle we took the trot, the gallop, and then 
* the charge.' As we neared their line, we were 
welcomed by a fearful musketry fire, which tempora- 
rily confused the leading squadron, and caused the 
entire brigade to oblique slightly to the right. In- 
standy officers cried out, ' Forward ! ' ' Forward ! ' 
The men raised their sabres, and responded with 
deafening cheers. Within a hundred yards of the 
enemy's line we struck a blind ditch, but crossed it 
without breaking our front. In a moment we were 
face to face with the enemy. They stood for an 
instant, and then broke in complete rout. In this 
charge the battery and many prisoners were cap- 

1 " Everglade to Canon." New York : D. Van Nostrand. 



4 



Sheridan's Final Cliarge at Wincliester. 



tured. Our own loss was severe, and of the officers 
of the Second, Captain Rodenbough (commanding 
the regiment) lost an arm, and Lieutenant Harrison 
was taken prisoner." 

The writer of this brief sketch of the circum- 
stances attending the charge of Lowell's Brigade was 
among the group of officers at the head of the 
column, as shown In the picture, and distinctly re- 
members certain details which M. de Thulstrup has 
reproduced with rare fidelity. 

The Union brigade colors, carried behind Colonel 
Lowell, are faithfully copied from the original flag, 
now In the Museum at West Point, and the artist 
has faithfully portrayed the atmospheric tone of an 
autumn day in Virginia, particularly of the day and 
hour in question. 

At the time of the volley of musketry referred 
to by Lieutenant Harrison, the writer spoke to Gen- 
eral Custer (represented in black sombrero and red 
cravat, on right flank of leading squadron), who 
assisted to encourage the men, and rode along with 
us for some distance. The officer on the white horse 
is an excellent representation of Lowell, the brigade 



jSheridans Final Charge at Winchester. 



commander. On his left were two regimental com- 
manders, Captain Rodenbough of the Second and 
Captain Baker of the First Cavalry ; also Captain 
Smith and Lieutenant Harrison of the Second Cav- 
alry, and others whose positions are not remembered. 

The Confederate standard-bearer had ventured 
too far from his escort, and when first seen by the 
writer was just in rear of the enemy's skirmish-line, 
urging his horse at full speed in a vain effort to rejoin 
his friends. 

The Confederate guns — one of which is seen in 
the foreground — are understood to have belonged 
to " Lee's Battery." Before the brigade reached the 
point indicated in the picture, a number of men and 
horses had gone down under the spasmodic fire of 
the enemy. 

One officer, severely wounded, was lying on the 
ground in the wake of the charging " Yankee " 
horsemen, when a handsome '' Rebel " cavalier, well- 
mounted and clad in exceptionally bright gray uni- 
form, rode up. The last comer was evidently trying 
to rejoin his command, which had changed its base 
since he left it. With a quick look around he saw 



jSheridans Final Charge at Winchester. 



the coast, for the moment, was clear. Dismounting 
he approached the fallen foe, and, after a courteous 
inquiry as to the extent of his injury, he proceeded 
to confiscate such contraband of war as a pistol and 
a pair of small field-glasses, bearing on the rims, in 
gilt letters, the owner's name. As he remounted he 
said to the Union officer, with a frank and graceful 
air, " I am sorry to leave you, but your own people 
will soon -find you ; while you are up we will fight 
you, but when down would care for you. But this 
is no place for me," he added, and with a wave of 
the hand this knight of the nineteenth century dis- 
appeared as suddenly as he had arrived. 

To some of their prisoners the Confederates 
expressed the greatest admiration of the final charge 
of Sheridan's cavalry (part of which is here faith- 
fully depicted), which was the finishing stroke to 
the operations of the day which sent the routed army 
of General Early " whirling through Winchester." 



Aey to Portraits in the Picture. 




i 



1 — Brigadier-General Georgb A. Custer, United States Volunteers (afterward Major-General). 

Killed by the Indians, June 25, 1876. 

2 — Colonel Charles R. Lowell, Second Massachusetts Cavalrj', Commanding Brigade (after- 

ward Brigadier-General United States Volunteers). Killed at Cedar Creek, Va., 
Oct. 19, 1864. 

3 — Captain Theo. F. Rodenbough, Second United States Cavalry, Commanding Regiment 

(afterward Colonel and Brevet- Brigadier-General United States Army). 

4 — Captain Eugene M. Baker, Commanding Regiment (afterward Major Second Cavalrj')- Died 

Dec. 18, 1884. 



45 West zsth Street, New York City. 
My dear Sir: 

It has given me great pleasure to watch the development of your beautiful and truthful water- 
color drawing of the " Charge of Sheridan's Cavalry at Winchester, 1864," being the final charge 
(.f the Regular Brigade (Lowell's), Merritt's Division, Cavalry Corps, upon Early's left, at the 
battle of the Opequan, Va., Sept. 19, 1S64. 

I commanded the leading regiment of the brigade on that day, and heartily congratulate you 
upon the fidelity with which you have reproduced the scene as I remember it. By the aid of certain 
soldiers who saw the charge from opposite sides, — Union and Confederate, — you 'have attained 
an exceptional degree of realism in the composition of your picture. 

Very truly yours, 

THEO. F. RODENBOUGH, 

Bt.- Brig. -Gen. U.S.A. 
To Mr. Thure db Thulstrup. 



PRANG'S WAR PICTURES. 

AQUARELLE FACSIMILE PRINTS. 



m 



LAND BATTLES. 

{EASTERN- DIVISION.) 
SHERIDAN'S FINAL CHARGE AT WINCHESTER. \ 

2. BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. | 

3. SHERIDAN'S RIDK i 

4. BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 

5. BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 

6. BATTLE OF SPOTTSYLVANIA, 

iWE STERN DIVISION.) 
BATTLE OF CHATTANOOGA. 

8. BATTLE OF KENESAW MOUNTAIN. 

9. ALLATOONA PASS; OR, "HOLD THE FORT.' 
io. BATTLE OF ATLANTA. 

II. SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 

12. BATTLE OF SHILOH. 



NAVAL BATTLES. 

13. CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS. 

14. MONITOR AND MERRIMAC. 

15. BATTLE OF MOBILE BAY. 

16. REARS ARGE AND ALABAMA. 

17. BATTLE OF^ORT HUDSON. 

18. CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 



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